S-TIER | WITCH BUILD HOLY FIRE BLOOD MAGE (@Light) | SEASON 4

Build Overview

This Blood Mage build exploits a devastating synergy between Explosive Spear for mapping and Spear of Solaris for bossing, all fueled by infinite frenzy charge generation. The Blood Mage ascendancy is essential as it allows Spear of Solaris to leverage bleed, and elemental damage contributes directly to bleed magnitude.

The Weapon Swap system is at the heart of the gameplay: the first gem set is dedicated to clear with Explosive Spear and Herald of Thunder, while the second set uses Spear of Solaris to melt bosses with 100% Critical Strike Chance and over 600 Critical Strike Damage bonus. Thanks to Sanguine Tides and Resonance, each Armour Break III generates frenzy charges instead of endurance charges, providing a permanent boost during mapping.

The build does not require mirror-tier items to function and offers an excellent balance between clear speed, boss power, and survivability thanks to Crimson Power and life regeneration.

Build Strengths

• Infinite frenzy charges: Thanks to Sanguine Tides and Resonance, the build permanently generates frenzy charges during mapping and in temples without needing Combat Frenzy.
• Explosive clear: Explosive Spear combined with Herald of Thunder and Armour Break III blows up the entire screen, delivering exceptional clear speed.
• Boss melting: Spear of Solaris reaches 100% Critical Strike Chance via power charges (through Resonance and Snipers Mark) with over 600 Critical Strike Damage bonus.
• Budget-friendly: The build works without mirror-tier items and with a rare spear that has crit stats and elemental damage.
• Versatile weapon swap: Two fully specialized sets allow you to excel at both clearing and bossing without any compromise.

Build Weaknesses

• Spear of Solaris requires aiming: The bossing skill requires properly aiming at the target, which may not appeal to all players.
• Weapon swap management: The build relies on two distinct gem sets, which takes some getting used to in order to alternate effectively between mapping and bossing.
• Blood Mage ascendancy dependency: The build does not work on any other ascendancy since the bleed and frenzy charge mechanics are tied to Blood Mage.

Gem Setup by Stage

This build offers 1 progression stage from leveling to the final build. Select a stage to view the corresponding gem setup.

Set 1

Set 1

15 skills • 59 gemmes

Coup de lanceSpear Stab

Jet de lanceSpear Throw

Reliquats de VieLife Remnants

Pureté du feuPurity of Fire

Lance explosiveExplosive Spear

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

Déclenchement lors de CritiquesCast on Critical

Rage éternelleEternal Rage

TrinitéTrinity

BlasphèmeBlasphemy

Lance de SolarisSpear of Solaris

Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation

Marque du tireur d'éliteSniper's Mark

Conflux élémentaireElemental Conflux

Berserk

Recommended Equipment

The gear for this build is relatively accessible. Here are the key pieces and stats to look for:

• Spear (Weapon): Elemental damage, increased elemental damage with attacks, Critical Strike Chance. Critical Strike Damage bonus and extra sockets are ideal but expensive (several mirrors). A rare spear with crit and elemental stats is more than sufficient.
• Helmet: Onyx Helm with a minimum of 121 Spirit. The build requires approximately 377 Spirit total (or 367 without Precision I).
• Rings: Two Onyx Rings with additional skill slots and elemental damage (which contributes to bleed).
• Amulet: Spirit, life, projectile, Critical Strike Damage bonus, and global life regeneration. Strength force on the amulet is a nice bonus.
• Body Armour: A simple armour piece with Spirit or energy shield is sufficient. +1 to the level of all skills is a luxury, not a necessity.
• Gloves: Full elemental damage, Critical Strike Damage bonus, and elemental damage with Hunter.
• Boots: Resistances and additional gem slots.
• Charms: Golden Charm with Spirit of the Wolf for movement speed and Armour Break III. Sacred Flame with two Sakat Spirits.

Gameplay Tips

• Bossing rotation: Cast Snipers Mark on the boss, use Explosive Spear to generate your power charges, then apply a second Snipers Mark and unleash Spear of Solaris. With gear similar to what is shown in the video, the second Snipers Mark is not even necessary.
• Weapon set management: Set 1 is exclusively dedicated to mapping with all clear and movement gems. Set 2 is your bossing kit with maximum Critical Strike Damage.
• Movement speed: The build author has a base movement speed of 50% thanks to movement nodes in the Set 1 passive tree. If you prefer more damage or energy shield, you can skip those nodes.
• Frenzy charges: They generate automatically during clearing thanks to Armour Break III + Resonance. No specific action is required – the explosions do the work.
• Spirit: Make sure to reach the 377 Spirit threshold (367 without Precision I) to activate all your auras and heralds.

Infinite Frenzy Charge Generation

The core of the build relies on an elegant interaction between several mechanics. The Blood Mage ascendancy provides Sanguine Tides, which grants permanent physical damage. Combine this with Resonance on the passive tree, which converts endurance charges gained into frenzy charges.

Explosive Spear uses Armour Break III, which breaks armour equal to 20% of physical damage and offers a chance to gain endurance charges – converted into frenzy charges by Resonance. Additionally, Detonate Dead on Custom Critical also deals physical damage, adding a supplementary source of charges. Herald of Thunder also has Armour Break III, further multiplying the generation chances.

The result: in maps, temples, and any activity with monsters, frenzy charges regenerate permanently without requiring Combat Frenzy or any manual player input.

Weapon Swap System

The build uses two completely distinct weapon sets. Set 1 is dedicated to mapping with Explosive Spear, Short Fuse I to reduce detonation time, and an effective Critical Strike Chance of 64% with 500 Critical Strike Damage bonus. Bloodletting converts the life cost and adds extra physical damage, meaning only the detonator consumes mana.

Set 2 uses Spear of Solaris with the Lineage Gem for a massive damage boost. The Critical Strike Chance reaches 74% by default, but thanks to Charge Regulation on the offhand and Snipers Mark combined with Resonance, power charges stack up and push crit to 100%. The Critical Strike Damage bonus exceeds 600, with even higher potential if the spear has a Critical Strike Damage bonus stat.

The passive tree also differs between sets: Set 1 takes all movement speed nodes while Set 2 focuses on bleed magnitude and critical damage nodes.

Passive Tree and Jewels

The passive tree starts in the area damage zone (all skills used are area damage type), then moves toward Critical Strike Chance and Critical Strike Damage nodes via Control Metamorphosis. Resonance is a must-have node for charge conversion.

Jewels play a major role in the build’s power. A rare jewel with elemental damage, spear damage, Critical Strike Chance, and Critical Strike Damage bonus is recommended. A cluster with double Critical Strike Damage bonus (for attack damage and for spear) along with increased bleed magnitude is particularly powerful but expensive.

The Heart of Fair Diamond offers a 10% chance to inflict bleed in addition to a double damage bonus. The Crystal is essential since the build’s unique flask grants a large amount of elemental damage. Finally, a +3 to the level of Spear of Solaris jewel considerably boosts the bossing skill.

Boss Rotation

The rotation is simple and extremely effective. Start by placing Snipers Mark on the boss, then use Explosive Spear to generate your power charges via Resonance. For maximum damage, apply a second Snipers Mark and launch Spear of Solaris. With proper gear, a tier 16 boss with extra life modifiers and reduced critical damage melts in seconds.

If your gear is similar to what is shown in the video, the second Snipers Mark is not even necessary – the boss dies fast enough with a single application. The build excels particularly on stationary bosses where it is easy to aim with Spear of Solaris.

Skill Tree